Magical Night

THE NBA

August 8, 1989

MAGIC JOHNSON was finally on the winning side of his own all-star benefit basketball contest, thanks to Michael Jordan's 49 points as the White team beat the Blue squad, 189-176, late Sunday in the Midsummer Night's Magic Game in Inglewood, Calif. Johnson, making his first appearance since straining his left hamstring in the second game of the NBA Finals, is 1-3 in his all-star game. The game and its accompanying activities raised more than $1 million for the United Negro College Fund. Johnson scored 18 points and matched Jordan with 14 assists in 27 minutes. He appeared to run freely and comfortably, but didn't seem to ever go all out. ''It's good to be back, and my leg felt fine,'' Johnson said. ''I will continue to keep working out and keep it healthy, although I didn't push it.'' Other high scorers for the White team were John Salley with 28 points and Jerome Kersey with 27. Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks led the Blue team with 31 points, followed by Mark Aguirre with 28 and Clyde Drexler and Ron Harper with 24.

FOREIGN INVASION THE LOS Angeles Lakers signed first-round draft pick Vlade Divac of Yugoslavia to a multiyear contract, becoming the third NBA team to reach agreement with an Eastern Bloc player this year. Under the terms of the contract, the Lakers paid Divac's Yugoslavian team, Partizan of Belgrade, for the rights to the 7-foot-1 center, said his agent, Mark Fleisher. Divac was the 26th player selected in the first round of the June draft. Two Soviet players have signed recently with NBA teams - guard Sarunas Marciulionis with Golden State and forward Alexander Volkov with Atlanta. In the past three seasons with Partizan, Divac averaged about 20 points and 11 rebounds per game. Divac helped lead Yugoslavia to a silver medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, averaging 11.7 points and 6.5 rebounds. In last year's McDonald's Open, he had nine points and eight rebounds against the Boston Celtics.